Moving day is coming very soon to a brand new blog. You’re welcome to join me at The News From Here, which you can find here: http://thenewsfrom.wordpress.com/ I hope to get settled into my new blog home in the next day or so, and if you’d like to stop by, I’ll put the coffee on.

So March blew by like a hurricane and I got caught up in some personal business that took some time to deal with and the blog languished. And, as it turns out, I don’t much care for the “new and improved” format anyway and I miss the nattering, which may be what I do best in print, anyway. It could be that I’ll choose to scuttle this blog altogether and start afresh. It’s the season of rebirth and renewal, after all, and maybe a tabula rasa is called for. I’ll let you know what shakes out.

It’s Monday and past time to look at the goals for the week ahead. I had some lofty ones for last week and while I didn’t nail all of them, I’m feeling pretty good about the overall progress. Here’s a look back at last week and the plan for this week:

Fitness: The goal for this week is at least 35 minutes at least five days this week. For the week just ended, I managed six days, and a couple of those days were much longer than the 30 minutes I was shooting for. Those were days I spent doing some deep cleaning around the joint and I’ll just say that I’m still sore from it. Housework does count!

Food: This is going to take some work. Still need more protein, still need to eat breakfast before noon, still need to watch the fast food tendencies I have. I did very well last week until the weekend and then the wheels fell off. I’m sticking ’em back on and moving ahead.

Service to others: I made my goal of one hat knitted up; it’ll be the same goal this week. One week, one hat. I’m not sure I need to update that every week–once a month ought to do it.

Woo-woo: The daily affirmation was a good inclusion and I could feel a bit of a positive shift in my attitude toward my body as I made a point of saying “I love my body” several times each day. I’ll continue with that affirmation this week, adding “I’m stronger than my momentary impulses” to the mix.

It’s a beauty of a day here, sunny and warmer than we’ve seen it in a long, long time, and I’m planning on a walk later on. I’m glad of the sun, glad of the longer days ahead, too, and glad to have made progress in the last several days. I’m hoping you find something to be glad of every day this week. Make it a great one!

We made it to Friday and a warmer weekend looms ahead for winter-weary Iowa. Yay!

It’s been a good week here, not without a misstep or two, but good nonetheless. Quite a few things have crossed my path this week that left me with a glow, but this is the one that left me both with a glow and with tears streaming down my face. Those good tears, you know? the ones that make you feel glad to be alive, that make you glad there are good people in the world. That make you want to give.

It had been sitting on the food shelf for days, that little dab of jelly at the bottom of the jar. Except it was more like a quarter of the jar still full. I walked past it with nary a glance many times a day. Ha! I thought to myself. I’ve won over the jelly.Who needs jelly, anyway? So it just sat there, biding its time, looking all innocent and sweet. It knew. Oh, yes, it knew I’d cave one day.

Friends, I ate the jelly (sing that to the tune of I Shot the Sheriff. It’s fun that way). I ate every last bite of it on Monday, despite the fact that it was so sweet it curled my teeth and left me with sweet face, which is the cousin of sour face. Despite the fact that I had to force down the last couple of spoons of it. Despite the fact that it didn’t taste good at all, except for the first bite. I ate the jelly. And I instantly regretted it. It was nasty.

The problem was not having a spoonful and leaving the rest for another day. The problem was shoveling it all down at once, even when it tasted awful. And that’s something I need to remember, the next time I’m tempted to finish off something when I’m past the point of having had enough.

Live and learn, right? Or, in my case, live and relearn. I’ll get it some day.

So that’s the bad news. The good news is, that was on Monday and I’ve done quite well since then. I’m aware that I’m eating more at night than I need to, having gone to bed more than once this week still feeling full, sometimes uncomfortably so, and I don’t generally eat after 8:00 p.m. And I’m a night owl. So, I’m eating too much at night. Conversely, I don’t eat enough in the morning–it’s well past 11:00 a.m. now and I’ve still not had breakfast, knowing a good one will fuel my day and likely keep me from overeating later in the day. It’s something to work on, tipping that balance around. I’ll be adding that to the goals for next week.

I’m doing well with keeping to my fitness goals and had a lovely surprise yesterday after I’d finished my weights and yoga routines. I went into the bathroom afterward and, glancing into the mirror, saw a little grin on my face. A glow, a satisfaction, shining eyes. That made me so happy, to see a happy me! I’ll be hoping to see her again, and soon. Often.

How are you coming along? Is the road ahead looking the way you envisioned? It’s never too late to change the route.

Fitness: Exercise for at least 30 minutes at least five days this week. That time can be spread over the day, but likely will come in one lump sum. I’ll also be taking a full-length “before” photo, which I have no intention of posting at this time, but which will serve as a personal benchmark to gauge my progress against in the coming months.

Service to others: I’m re-re-rebooting my Random Hats of Kindness project. The goal is 52 hats by March 1, 2015.

In addition to the hat-a-week goal for the Random Hats project, over the coming months I want to branch out from the simple hats I’ve been making and explore some different knitting techniques that will, I hope, boost me out of the knitting doldrums. The goal for this project will be one hat per month. I’m taking this back. In theory, it sounds like a dandy idea. In practice, I’d hate it. I’m happiest doing simple projects and that’s what I’m going to stick to.

Food: Watch the sugar and carbs intake and bump up the protein. I’m pretty sure I’m not getting enough protein, and I’ll be doing some reading on the topic and starting to make adjustments this week.

For the month, I plan to continue to read up on healthful eating and avoid fast food altogether, as well as continue to make adjustments in my daily eating habits that will contribute to a healthier me. Days of indulgence, such as game night and Knitter’s Night Out, will be allowed, because what’s life without a little sin? but those days will be the exception rather than the rule.

Woo-woo: I’m introducing the use of daily affirmations to change some stinkin’ thinkin’ habits I’ve allowed myself to indulge in. This week, the affirmation is “I love my body.” No hedging, no qualifications, just “I love my body.”

Each week this month, I’ll focus on a particular affirmation addressing various areas of my life that could use an injection of positive thought.

Look for updates around mid-week, and until then, go kick a little sass your own fine selves.

So here’s a glimpse at the roadmap for the next little while. You can likely expect:

* Less introspective nattering about the past. I’m pretty sure that shit has run its course, or has for the most part, and I won’t be dwelling on it much any longer.

* More concrete updates on what I’m doing to get where I want to be, how I’m doing it, where the map is spot on and where it’s leading me astray. In less nebulous terms, it’ll look something like this:

* Goals! Weekly and monthly, in terms of food/healthful eating, fitness, service to others, and spirit (there’s gonna be some woo-woo stuff, so just go on and reconcile yourselves to that now).

* Feel Good Friday! Things I’ve come across during the week, whether it’s music, a quote, a website, or whatever else, that made me feel good.

* Fewer overall posts. Ideally, three to four a week, on a more or less regular schedule, ought to do it.

Like any good road trip, there will be delays, meanderings off the beaten path, getting a little lost, and some dandy discoveries, and I want to be open to whatever comes along that aids the journey, even if I don’t understand it at the time. Perhaps most especially then.

Tomorrow, look for a peek at the road ahead for the month of March, as well as for the first week of this new month. It’s going to be a great trip!